Long term update: Street Triple's bunny business

For a moment I can’t work out why the guy at the next petrol pump is staring at me. Then I remember that I’m dressed as a giant rabbit! I suppose I do look rather odd.

It’s my first proper trip out on the new Triumph Street Triple Rx and as usual I’m not doing things by halves. I’ve ridden 325 miles from home to Glasgow for one of the largest Easter egg runs in the UK. The event raises funds for the Yorkhill Children’s Hospital and, along with a couple of thousand other bikers, I’ve made a donation to take part and ride the eight-mile route through the city streets.

While most are dressed normally, a few of us took it as an opportunity to dress up and bring a smile to some of the faces of the locals who lined the streets to cheer us on.

By taking on the Street Triple this year I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone. I love middleweight bikes, particularly nakeds, but usually opt to ride more sedate models. This year I’ve been given the opportunity to ride the much lighter and more powerful Triumph, which I know will be a little more challenging. It’s regularly voted the winner in our group tests and following my initial rides I can see why. It’s so much more nimble and lighter than other middleweights I’ve ridden. 

The Street Triple Rx is a new model for this year, tweaking the existing Street Triple R with a couple of cosmetic updates, plus ABS and a quickshifter fitted as standard.

The red wheels and red fins are minor details, but they make the bike look really striking. The model shares the angular and rather sporty-looking tail unit of the faired Triumph Daytona 675, making it a single-seater. This gives a great little ridge, which on my trip I found I could nudge my bum against to stop me sliding around on the seat.

Although passenger footpegs are fitted, the single seat means I can’t carry pillions, which isn’t an issue for me. You can fit a pillion seat as an option for £125.

After a brief tutorial from one of the guys in the office, I soon got to grips with how the quickshifter works. Through towns I’ve not tended to use it but on the open roads I am finding it great fun as the quickshifter offers a relatively smooth, clutch-free change.

Having said that, I am finding a few niggly issues with the gearbox when trying to select lower gears. Neutral seems nigh-on impossible to locate at times, but time will tell whether this is me just needing to get used to the bike or the gears needing to bed in. 

On my ride up to Glasgow I did get a little twitchy over fuel. It takes a while to get used to knowing how urgent it is to fill up when the fuel light comes on. The light made itself known with two bars of the gauge showing, the first of these disappeared after about 15 miles so I didn’t risk pushing on and dived in at the first available petrol station.

It took 14.5 litres to fill the tank so, by Triumph’s claimed capacity, I’d actually got almost three litres left in hand. I’m currently averaging 48mpg and at that rate could have managed another 25 miles before running dry.

It’s been a great first couple of weeks with the Triple and I’ve made plans to travel to France for a trackday and also a summer holiday on the Isle of Man. I’m really looking forward to hopping out on the bike throughout the year… but not necessarily in fancy dress.